Dr. Vera Tarman – Author, Speaker & Food Addiction Expert

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I’m Sweet Enough Challenge!

Food Junkies Podcast Ep. 157: CJ Nguy – Host of the NEW Food Junkies: Recovery from Food Addiction Stories

CJ Nguy - Host of the NEW Food Junkies: Recovery from Food Addiction Stories

Ohhh Food Junkies listeners do we have a super special episode and surprise for you today! In 2024 you are going to get MORE episodes of the food junkies podcast all based on personal recovery stories to motivate and inspire you. Today we are going to introduce you to your new co host of what we are calling Food Junkies: Recovery from Food Addiction Stories with CJ Nguy. 

When CJ approached us with this idea to share personal stories of recovery from our listener base or from Vera’s Sugar free for Life: I’m Sweet Enough Facebook group we loved the idea. What a beautiful way for people in our communities to share what they are doing and help spread the message that Recovery Is Possible.

Food Junkies listeners will now get 2 bonus episodes a month of personal recovery stories and Spoiler Alert CJ will be interviewing each one of us first. In fact today she is taking a crack at it! Stay tuned. If you are interested in being a guest on this upcoming series please reach out to CJ at FJRecoveryStories@gmail.com and she will send you a link to the podcast guest form. So excited to support you more in 2024. Enjoy the show.

Food Junkies Podcast Ep. 156 Dr. Chris Van Tulleken

Dr. Chris Van Tulleken is an infectious disease doctor, academic researcher, and popular television presenter best known for hosting science programs, such as on the BBC and Channel 4. Born in the UK in 1978, Van Tulleken studied medicine at the University of Oxford before completing a PhD in molecular virology at University College London. He went on to work as a doctor with ‘Doctors Without Borders’, in locations such as rural Africa.

Dr. Van Tulleken hosted acclaimed science documentaries such as: Medicine Men Go Wild, Trust Me I’m a Doctor, The Doctor Who Gave up Drugs, and What Are We Feeding Our Children? Through his broadcasting work, Van Tulleken became increasingly concerned about the impacts of processed and ultra-processed foods on human health. This prompted him to write his first book, ‘Ultra-Processed People: How Modern Food is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It.’ Published in 2022, his book examines the science linking ultra-processed foods to problems like obesity, addiction, and depression. It also explores the environmental impact of industrial food processing and offers solutions to help people and policymakers make healthier choices.

Food Junkies Podcast Ep. 155: Dr. Nicole Avena

Dr. Nicole Avena

On todays Food Junkies podcast Molly and I interview Dr. Nicole Avena about her new book being released December 19th “Sugarless: A 7-Step Plan to Uncover Hidden Sugars, Curb Your Cravings, and Conquer Your Addiction.” This book covers the latest science on sugar addiction and how to overcome it.

Dr. Nicole Avena-Blanchard was one of our first guests on the podcast 3 years ago, and you can check out her in episode 15. She is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City and a Visiting Professor of Health Psychology at Princeton University.

She is a research neuroscientist and expert in the fields of nutrition, diet, and addiction, with a special focus on nutrition during early life and pregnancy and women’s health. She has done groundbreaking work developing models to characterize food addiction and the dangers of excess sugar intake. Her research achievements have been honored by awards from several groups, including the New York Academy of Sciences, the American Psychological Association, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

In addition to over 100 peer-reviewed scholarly publications, Dr. Avena has written several popular books, including Why Diets Fail: Because You’re Addicted to Sugar, What to Eat When You’re Pregnant, What to Feed Your Baby and Toddler and What to Eat When You Want to Get Pregnant. She frequently appears as a science expert in the media, including regular appearances on Good Day NY, The Doctors, the former Dr. Oz Show, and many news programs. Her work has been featured in Time Magazine, Bloomberg Business Week, The New York Times, and many other periodicals.

She has the #2 most watched TED-ED Health talk, How Sugar Affects Your Brain, with over 17 million views and counting. Every time I do a presentation for the public on food addiction I include this incredible 5 minute video. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth watching and sharing.

In this episode:

  • What Nicole has been working on
  • How does dependence on sugar happen
  • Withdrawal
  • Craving Management
  • Stress Eating
  • The marketing of value meals
  • How to deal with Social Pressures
  • Harm Reduction
  • Self Compassion
  • It’s about HEALTH not WEIGHT
  • Homeostatic versus Hedonic hunger
  • Slip Ups
  • There’s NO restart there is just keep going
  • What she thinks it will take for our society to change our dependence on sugar

Food Junkies Podcast Ep. 154: Dr. Andrew Newberg

Dr. Andrew Newberg

Dr. Andrew Newberg is a renowned neuroscientist and researcher at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. He is a pioneer in the field of neurotheology, the study of how the brain and spirituality intersect. Dr. Newberg has dedicated his career to exploring the effects of religious and spiritual practices on the brain, using neuroimaging techniques to understand the neural basis of religious experiences.

Dr. Newberg co-authors several critically acclaimed books, including “How God Changes the Brain” and “Neurotheology: How Science Can Enlighten Us About Spirituality”. Dr. Newberg’s work has garnered international recognition and has provided valuable insights into the relationship between the brain, consciousness, and religious experiences.

As a leading expert in his field, Dr. Newberg has been featured in various media outlets, including CNN, National Geographic, and The New York Times. He has presented his research at numerous conferences and universities around the world. Dr. Newberg’s goal is to bridge the gap between science and spirituality, offering a unique perspective on the nature of the human mind and its connection to something greater than ourselves.

In this episode:

  • The Science
  • Addiction/Food Addiction
  • The Not Spiritual/Not Religious
  • Neurotheology and the Impact of Drugs
  • And more!!

Food Junkies Podcast Ep. 153: Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett

Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett

Our guest today is Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett. Lisa is among the top 0.1% of most cited scientists in the world for her revolutionary research in psychology and neuroscience. She is a University Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University. She also holds appointments at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, where she is Chief Science Officer for the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior.

In addition to the books Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain and How Emotions are Made, Dr. Barrett has published over 275 peer-reviewed scientific papers appearing in Science, Nature Neuroscience, and other top journals in psychology and cognitive neuroscience, as well as six academic volumes published by Guilford Press. She writes regularly about science in the popular press, including The New York Times, The Guardian, Scientific American, BBC Science Focus, Time magazine and more.

She also has a popular TED talk, which we have linked in her bio, that has been viewed over 6.5 million times.

Dr. Barrett received a National Institutes of Health Director’s Pioneer Award for her revolutionary research on emotion in the brain. These highly competitive, multimillion-dollar awards are given to scientists of exceptional creativity who are expected to transform biomedical and behavioral research.

Among her many accomplishments, Dr. Barrett has testified before Congress, presented her research to the FBI, consulted with the National Cancer Institute, and been a featured guest on public television, podcasts, and radio programs worldwide. She recently did a 2-hour podcast with Andrew Huberman, which is definitely worth checking out!

She was president of the Association for Psychological Science in 2019–2020 and co-founded the Society for Affective Science. She is also an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the Royal Society of Canada.

In this episode:

  • How she became THE person who would teach the world how emotions are REALLY made.
  • How emotions are made (they aren’t simply triggered reactions).
  • She walks us through an instance of emotion (sadness, anxiety).
  • Her thoughts on adverse childhood experiences/trauma and disordered eating
  • How metabolic functioning affects everything and why we need to be aware when doing metabolically expensive things (uncertainty, neural processing).
  • How people predict and experience pain
  • It’s not our thoughts that create feelings, but feelings that create our thoughts.
  • How our brain writes a story that makes predictions about what will happen, and this becomes our reality.
  • Can we teach our brains to make different predictions?
  • How emotional concepts are taught to us by our parents
  • Actionable tools listeners can use to manage their body budget.
  • What is next for her?
  • What would she tell herself if she could tell a younger version of yourself something about emotions?

Food Junkies Podcast Ep. 152: Dr. David Katz

Dr. David Katz

Dr. David L. Katz is a specialist in Internal Medicine, Preventive Medicine/Public Health, and Lifestyle Medicine, with expertise in nutrition.

The recipient of numerous awards for teaching, writing, and contributions to public health, Dr. Katz was a 2019 James Beard Foundation Award nominee in health journalism, has been a widely supported nominee for the position of U.S. Surgeon General, and has received three honorary doctorates. He is a 2023 recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Doctors’ World Gala.

He holds multiple US patents, has over 200 peer-reviewed publications, has published hundreds of online and newspaper columns, and has authored/co-authored 19 books to date, including multiple editions of leading nutrition, preventive medicine, and epidemiology textbooks. His most recent book for a general audience, How to Eat, co-authored with Mark Bittman, was a 2021 IACP Awards finalist.

His career-long focus has been translating science into action for adding years to life, life to years, and on the confluence of human and planetary health.

In this episode:

  • Dr. Katz explains how addiction is possible and why it exists
  • We discuss how food could fit into meeting criteria for addiction
  • Dr. Katz shares his opinion on labeling food addiction and obesity as diseases
  • We discuss culinary medicine and tastebud rehab
  • Dr. Katz explains why emphasis on whole foods remains a steady recommendation despite new fad diets
  • We get some of Dr. Katz’s book recommendations, and he answers our signature question

Food Junkies Podcast Ep. 151: Molly Painschab, Clarissa Kennedy, Bethany Mazereeuw – What to Look For in a Counsellor

Molly Painschab, Clarissa Kennedy, Bethany Mazereeuw - What to Look For in a Counsellor

On todays podcast registered social workers and dual licensed mental health and addiction counsellor Molly, Bethany and Clarissa discuss what to look for in a counsellor and some questions to ask them before you start working with them. Here is a helpful guide we created for you as well!

Questions to ask a Food Addiction Professional Before Working with them

Education / Training / Certifications:
What is their educational background? 
Where did they receive their degree/training in counseling/psychology/food addiction/coaching? 
How long have they been practicing? 
What licenses and certifications do they have? Which professional organizations do they belong to? 

Confidentiality: 
What is their policy regarding privacy and confidentiality? 
Do they adhere to professional ethical standards and keep client information secure? 

Professional Standards: 
Are they in therapy themselves? How recently? How regularly? 
Do they seek peer consultation? 
Do they participate in supervision?

Treatment Style: 
How many clients have they had with similar circumstances to yours? 
When was the last time they worked with someone similar to you? 
Have them describe their ideal client. 
What are their strengths and limitations are as a Food Addiction professional? 
What is their general philosophy and approach to helping? 
Are they more directive or more guiding? 
What does a typical session look like? 
How long are the sessions? 
What kind of homework/reading do they give their clients? 
How do you prepare for your first session? 
What therapeutic approach or modalities does the Food Addiction professional utilize? 
Are they trained in specific methods: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), Psychodynamic Therapy, Somatic Practices or Mindfulness-Based approaches? 
How do they tailor their approach to meet your individual needs?

Treatment Goals and Progress: 
How do they collaborate with their clients to establish treatment goals? 
How often do they assess progress? 
What strategies do they use to monitor and adjust the treatment plan? 
How do they set up counseling goals? What are they like? 
Tell them what you define as success for you.

Availability and Scheduling: 
What are their working hours and availability? 
How far in advance do they typically schedule appointments? 
Are there any options for remote or online sessions? 
Is it all 1:1 or are there group sessions? 
How often would they anticipate seeing you? For how long?

Costs: 
What are the fees for each session? 
What are their sliding-scale options? 
Are there any additional charges/expenses to consider: assessments or paperwork fees? 
Do they accept insurance, and if so, which providers? 
Do they offer a contract where all this info is stated? 

Refund Policy: 
What is the cancellation or no-show policy? 
Are there any provisions for refunds if sessions are missed or terminated prematurely?

Follow Clarissa, Molly, and Bethany:

Food Junkies Podcast Ep. 150: Dr. David Wiss

Dr. David Wiss

Dr. David Wiss became a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) in 2013 and founded Nutrition in Recovery, a group practice of RDNs specializing in treating eating and substance use disorders. He earned his Ph.D. in Public Health with a minor in Health Psychology from UCLA. Dr. Wiss is a scientific author with over 20 peer-reviewed publications, a nutrition and health consultant, a functional medicine practitioner, a recovery coach, and a passionate educator. Learn more about the intersection of nutrition and mental health at Wise Mind Nutrition, where you can learn about his revolutionary mobile app, available for download today.

In this episode:

  • oxic and What We Can Do About It.”
  • The food industry is paying ‘influencer’ dietitians to shape our eating habits
  • How to discern whether the nutritional advice is credible or not
  • His thoughts on 12-step food programs
  • What he has learned in his 17 years of being in recovery “I had to be rigid to get free, but I didn’t get free to spend the rest of my life being rigid. I want to be more like water and less like rocks.”
  • What is next for him

Food Junkies Podcast Ep. 149: Vincent Santiago

Vincent Santiago

Vincent Santiago’s research interests include eating behaviors, body image, and bariatric surgery. Vincent’s doctoral dissertation explores the use of an intervention for food addiction (the concept that individuals can be addicted to foods, particularly highly processed foods). This intervention combines Adapted Motivational Interviewing, a person-centered counseling approach, and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) skills for eating-related issues and will be tested in a randomized controlled trial.

Vincent’s Master’s thesis explored psychosocial factors (i.e., adult attachment style, emotion regulation, and psychopathology) related to cigarette smoking following bariatric surgery. For his undergraduate thesis, he studied the influence of video messages on healthier eating among students who engaged in restrained and unrestrained eating. He previously worked in research positions at Toronto Western Hospital’s Bariatric Surgery Program and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Clinical Interests

Vincent’s clinical interests include the assessment and treatment of various mental health issues, including eating disorders, anxiety disorders (e.g., social anxiety disorder), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Vincent is particularly interested in using approaches from CBT, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, and Motivational Interviewing.

Vincent has completed practicum placements at 1) the Psychology Training Clinic within the Department of Family and Community Medicine at St. Michael’s Hospital; 2) the Intensive Residential and Day Treatment Program for OCD at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre; and 3) the Day Hospital Treatment, Eating Disorder Program at Toronto General Hospital. Vincent is also involved as a study therapist in clinical trials providing CBT related to post-bariatric surgery issues, as well as social anxiety disorder, substance use, and HIV sexual risk behavior.

Professional and Community Involvement

Vincent is committed to fostering the growth of psychology and those interested in the field. He is involved in mentorship programs with undergraduates, graduate students, and early career psychologists as part of the Ryerson Psychology Graduate Students’ Association (PGSA), the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), and the American Psychological Association (APA). He is also serving a 2-year term as a Student Representative in the Psychologists in Hospitals and Health Centres section of the CPA.

Vincent co-organized the inaugural “Diversifying Psychology Recruitment Event” at Ryerson in 2020. The goal of this event was to provide more information about applying to graduate school for students from traditionally underrepresented groups, particularly students identifying as Black, Indigenous, and a Person of Colour. Vincent also volunteers in LGBTQ+ organizations that offer peer support, workshops, and social activities in the community.

Food Junkies Podcast Ep. 148: Nina Teicholz

Nina Teicholz

Nina Teicholz is a science journalist and author of the New York Times bestseller The Big Fat Surprise, which upended the conventional wisdom on dietary fat–especially saturated fat—and spurred a new conversation about whether these fats cause heart disease. 

Teicholz’s work on nutrition, policy, and health has been published in the BMJ, PNAS Nexus (a journal of the National Academies of Sciences), the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Financial Times, and The Atlantic, among other national publications. She now writes a Substack column called “Unsettled Science.” Teicholz has appeared on numerous podcasts and TV shows, including ABC’s Nightline, Good Morning America, CBC Radio, NPR shows, MSNBC, the Joe Rogan Show, and more. Her book was named a “must read” by the BMJ and The Lancet, as well as one of the year’s *Best Books* by the Economist, Wall Street Journal, and Mother Jones. It continues to be a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the amazing story of how we came to believe fat is bad for health—and what a better diet might look like.

Nina is also the founder of the Nutrition Coalition, a non-profit working to ensure that nutrition policies are based on the best and most rigorous science—work for which she was asked to testify before the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Canadian Senate. Teicholz is a graduate of Stanford and Oxford Universities and previously served as associate director of the Center for Globalization and Sustainable Development at Columbia University. 

Teicholz attended Yale and Stanford, where she studied biology and majored in American Studies. She has a master’s degree from Oxford University and served as associate director of the Center for Globalization and Sustainable Development at Columbia University.

A former vegetarian of 25+ years from Berkeley, CA, Teicholz now lives in New York City with her husband and two sons.

Food Junkies Podcast Ep. 147: Dr. Bonnie Kaplan PHD

Bonnie J Kaplan

Dr Bonnie J Kaplan, PhD, is Professor Emeritus in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. She has published widely on the biological basis of developmental disorders and mental health – particularly, the contribution of nutrition to mental health.

Her efforts to educate about the role of nutrition in brain health resulted in her selection in 2017 as one of 150 Canadian Difference Makers in Mental Health, in honour of Canada’s 150th birthday. In 2019 she was honoured with the Dr. Rogers Prize for Excellence in Integrative, complementary medicine. In 2021 she was chosen as one of the top “7 Over 70” in Calgary, partly for her book The Better Brain, written with Professor Julia Rucklidge and published by Harper Collins, as well as her two charitable funds supporting research by junior colleagues who study nutrition and mental health (over $1 million CAD distributed). Her primary goal is to bring nutrition education and treatment to the forefront of mental health care.

The best news is Dr. Kaplan is coming to my hometown Parry Sound on November 2nd to present at the Stockey Centre on the topic of “The Importance of Nutrition for Brain Health and Resilience.” This event was going to be hosted at the Parry Sound Hospital but apparently a doctor there was opposed to it who essentially stated her work was not based in science. I found this so hard to believe since Bonnie has spent so much of her life in the field of research, and has 142 peer reviewed publications to prove it. So as a community of passionate people about a food as medicine approach as an incredible tool to enhance mental health we found a way to host her here ANYWAYS and for FREE to the general public. So all are welcome to attend this event which will be held from 1pm – 3pm, November 2nd at the Stockey Center in Parry Sound. All donations are going to two local programs to provide fresh food for their participants at The Drop supporting local youth and Hope Pregnancy Center supporting local pregnant moms. Thanks to Home Depot and Sweet Sobriety for sponsoring this event.

Food Junkies Podcast Ep. 146: Dr. Vanessa Sperandio

Dr. Vanessa Sperandio

Dr. Vanessa Sperandio is a professor at the UT Southwestern Medical Center in both the departments of microbiology and biochemistry. She joined the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health as the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology chair in spring 2022.

Sperandio’s research focuses on the signaling mechanisms between mammalian hosts, their beneficial microbiota, and bacterial pathogens.

Sperandio was a 1997 fellow of the Pew Charitable Trust and was elected to the American Academy of Microbiology in 2013.[3] She is also a Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow by the National Academy of Sciences and selected as a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Diseases.

In today’s episode:

  • Personal/Professional Journey
  • Our relationship with Bacteria
  • Neurotransmitters
  • Microbiome Imbalance
  • Nutritional Therapy Interventions
  • Processed Foods and our gut
  • How to eat for our gut microbiome
  • Supplements and Probiotics
  • Psychedelics, Microbiome, and Addiction
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